Newsgroups: alt.revisionism
Subject: Holocaust Almanac: David Irving's Hitler: Postscript
Summary: H. David Kirk's commentary on Irving's work and the Jaeckel
Essays
Followup-To: alt.revisionism
Reply-To: kmcvay@nizkor.org
Organization: The Nizkor Project, Vancouver Island, CANADA
Keywords: Kirk,Irving,Jaeckel
Archive/File: pub/people/i/irving.david/jackel/postscript-kirk-6
Last-Modified: 1996/12/27
A NOTE ON SPELLING
American vs. British spelling
Although the author of the Foreword, the translator of the essays,
and the publisher are Canadians, American spelling was used for the
sake of wider distribution. It is hoped that this will not stand in
the way of our Canadian and British friends and European readers.
Why 'antisemitism' rather than 'anti-Semitism'?
Let us begin anecdotally. A perplexed Hugh Whitney Morrison, our
erudite and highly competent editor, called to say that no standard
dictionary shows the term 'antisemitism,' even as an alternate
spelling to 'anti-Semitism.' Was it a consistent error in the
manuscript? If not, why had we used this peculiar, perhaps
idiosyncratic spelling?
When all grammatical authorities seem to contradict us and we
persist, an explanation is called for. In response to Mr. Morrison
we note that 'Semitism,' in the composite term 'anti-Semitism,' is
meaningless. But 'Semitic' refers to a group of languages spoken by
peoples like the ancient Phoenicians and modern Arabs. Ancient and
modern Hebrew also belong to that language group. In addition to
being meaningless, the term has served as a cover for racist
agitation against the Jewish people. Gobineau's mid-19th century
work on 'the inequality of the human races' initiated a pseudo-
scientitic theory, whereby early anthropologists confused the idea of
race in a biological sense with the social and men~al productions of
human civilizations. In that context 'Semitic' came to be applied,
first erroneously and then intentionally, as a racist epithet in
politics.
In Germany the term 'Antisemitus' appears to have been first
used by Wilhelm Malr (around 1879), in connection with movements
intent on reducing Jewish influence in economic and social life. It
was put in circulation by Adolf Stocker, Imperial Palace Preacher,
and founder of the first overdy antisemitic party, the Christian
Social Movement. In German, 'antisemitism' was never hyphenated .
In English, in a different context, the term 'antisemitism' probably
stems from the work of Dr. James Parkes, a Church of England priest
and long-time student of Christianity's anti-Jewish ideology,
actions, and sentiments. His An Enemy of the People, Antisemitism
appeared in the critical year 1945, and in 1963 a revised and
expanded version appeared under the title Antisemitism. Unable to
find a passage in which Parkes explained the use of his spelling, the
translator (HDK) asked friends of the late James Parkes for
information. The American scholars Professors Alice and Roy Eckardt
recall the following words of explanation by Dr. Parkes at the time
of a 1953 visit: 'Antisemitism is not a scientific word, and it is
entitled to neither a hyphen nor a capital.'
Another look at both terms
Actually there is reason for avoiding both terms, especially since
neo-Nazi propaganda claims that its ideology is directed against Jews
but not against 'Semites' as such. In accord with Hitler's wartime
dalliance with Amin al-Husayni, the Mufti of Jerusalem, neo-Nazis
consider Arabs their friends. For that reason, and for the sake of
clarity, we would have preferred to speak of 'Jew-hatred,' but
customary usage urged one or the other spelling of the many-sidedly
false l9th century term. In honor of Jarnes Parkes we chose his
spelling.
Some additional works by James Parkes
The Conflict of the Church and the Synagogue, 1934, 1962
Jesus, Paul and the Jews, 1936
The Jew in the Medieval Community, 1938
Judaism and Christianity, 1948
A History of Palestine from AD. 135 to Modern Times, 1949
End of an Exile: Israel, the Jews and the Gentile World, 1954
The Foundations of Judaism and Christianity, 1960
Footnotes:
<48> Fleming here quotes Guido Knopp, ed Hitler heute (Aschaffenburg,
1979). I am grateful to Professor Fleming for having drawn my
attention to his Hitler and the Final Solution, Berkeley, University
of California Press, 1984. In it he has indeed dealt in a masterly
way and in much greater detail with much tbat the Jaeckel essays and
my annotations could only indicate. His book is a 'must' for anyone
wanting to follow tbese issues in greater depth
<49> Martin Broszat, op. cit., pp. 742-745 and footnote 12. All
quotations from Broszat are translated by HDK, except for sentences
that Broszat has directly quoted from Irving's 'Hitler's War.'
<50> Ibid., p. 763, footnote 51.
<51> Ibid., p. 727.
<52> Landsgericht Munchen 11.
<53> Broszat, op.cit., p. 768 and footnote 62.
<54> Translator's emphasis.
<55> For an account of Jewish ghetto fighters' weapons, ammunition,
and their sources see Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of the European
Jews, Chicago, Quadrangle Books, 1961, pp. 322-324.
<56> Eventually the Polish government relented and room was made in
the country for the unfortunate expellees.
<57> I am indebted to Edward Alexander's incisive discussion of Lucy
Dawidowicz in his article 'What the Holocaust Does Not Teach,'
<58> Lucy S. Dawidowicz, op. Cit., pp. 34-38.
<59> In deciphering Himmler's Gothic script and its meaning,
Dawidowicz acknowledges the help of Dr. Fred Grubel, director of the
Leo Baeck Institute.
<60> Reprinted from the Times-Colonist, Victoria, B.C., November
1992.
<61> Ibid., 9 November 1992." (Jaeckel, 39-56)
Followups have been directed to alt.revisionism, where discussions about
David Irving's scholastic dishonesty belong. Those who have not yet read the
Jaeckel essays, which were published to this newsgroup recently, will
find them on the web at http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/people/i/irving-david/jackel.
Work Cited
Jaeckel, Eberhard. David Irving's Hitler: A Faulty History Dissected. H.
David Kirk, Translator. Port Angeles, Washington: Ben-Simon Publications,
1993. Library of Congress Catalog Number 93-072355, ISBN 0-914539-08-6.
Ben-Simon Publications, P.O. Box 2124, Port Angeles, Washington, 98362
Ben-Simon Publications, P.O. Box 318, Brentwood Bay, British Columbia,
V0S 1A0.

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